Venezia: Library dispute has simple solution

Who really owns the William Wendt painting that hangs in the Laguna Beach Library?

Martha Lydick, president of the Friends of the Laguna Beach Library, says the painting was bought in 1973 by the Friends in honor of library supporter Nita Carman to hang in the library for perpetuity.

Helen Fried, county librarian, says the Wendt was donated to the library and formally accepted by the Board of Supervisors in 1973, which means the OC Public Library owns it.

This is just the latest difference of opinion between these women.

The two locked horns in December when Fried sent a contract to all Friends of the Library non-profit organizations around the county telling them they must sign a new licensing agreement with several insurance requirements to operate on county property.

Lydick says in light of the changes, the board of the Friends of the Laguna Beach Library felt it was prudent to have the painting appraised to ensure proper insurance coverage.

So they removed the painting and it's now at the Laguna College of Art & Design, where it will be appraised and returned.

Lydick told me Fried has accused her of stealing the painting.

When Fried heard the painting had been removed on Jan. 14, she emailed Lydick to remind her that the painting belongs to the OC Public Library.

Lydick wrote back saying, "it is a sad state of affairs that after funding our Laguna Beach Library's needs in the amount of over $2 million, you would accuse us of malfeasance."

Lydick says her husband, the former District Court Judge Lawrence T. Lydick, researched ownership of the Wendt painting in the late 80's and found it belongs in the Laguna Beach library. He died in 1995.

Ownership of the painting and insurance requirements are not the only issues these two don't agree on.

Fried has also told Friends groups that money they raise should now go directly to the county with no guarantees any of it would find its way back to their respective communities.

This created a firestorm of controversy as Friends of the Library groups around the county, including Lydick's, refused to sign – even under the threat of having their fundraising bookstores padlocked.

In response to the protests, Fried sent an addendum to the contract on Jan. 8 saying though all checks would still be made to the County, the Friends organizations can designate which libraries they wanted their fundraising money to go to.

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